An observation on the composition of urinary calculi: environment influence.

Urinary stones exist throughout the world and are considered among the most painful medical conditions. Primary causal factors for the formation of these stones include both biological and environmental factors. Environmental factors are suspected to have a direct relationship to the composition of urine, which is governed mainly by diet and drinking water composition. This is a brief review on the influence of the environment on urinary stones formation: prevalence, geographical distribution and composition. A pilot case study on urinary stones in southern Italy is reported.